A man was transported to Grand Rapids after a fire started in a garage where he was working.

The Greenville City Council approved the proposed budget for 2013-2014 on Tuesday. During the council’s regular meeting, a public hearing was held and the council made the decision to approve the proposed budget.

As U.S. Navy veteran Rosemary Posekany carried the American Flag, joined by U.S. Army veteran John Johansen, who carried the state flag of Michigan, during the presentation of colors for the annual Montcalm County Republicans Lincoln Day event, a crowd of spectators stood with many saluting or placing their right hand over their heart.

A deadline is now looming for an accused child abuser to decide whether to accept a plea deal from the Montcalm County Prosecutor’s Office. Benjamin Wilkins, 26, of Greenville, is charged with first-degree and second-degree child abuse of his girlfriend Samantha Slater’s 2-year-old daughter Brooklyn Weimer, who has been hospitalized since March 24 with severe abdominal and brain injuries.

Four people were hospitalized including an unresponsive driver after a four-vehicle crash happened on 14 Mile Road (M-57) in Oakfield Township. At about 4:30 p.m, Oakfield Township, Michigan State Police, Kent County Sheriff’s Office and emergency medical services (EMS) from both Kent and Montcalm counties were dispatched to a crash between Lincoln Lake and Podunk roads.

The school year may be done for students, young and old alike, but that’s no excuse to put down the books and kick reading to the curb — not with a local library just waiting to be explored. More than 475 parents, teens and children who attended the kick-off event for the Summer Reading program at the Flat River Community Library on Saturday walked away with a membership to the summer program, which encourages reading with rewards for doing so.

A longtime camp director and his family are saying goodbye as they set off on a new adventure in Iowa. Paul Golke became the director of Camp Concordia in Gowen seven years ago. In that time he has helped enhance programs designed to give children a fun Christian camping experience.

After its first full year of classes, the West Michigan Virtual School in Greenville held its first graduation ceremony. On Tuesday, many gathered in the Greenville High School Performing Arts Center to see students from West Michigan Virtual School walk across the stage to get their diplomas.

Don Sherrick has difficulty walking for extended periods of time without experiencing pain in his legs, but that didn’t stop the cancer survivor from walking the initial lap of the Mini-Relay For Life event Monday afternoon at Walnut Hills Elementary School.

For Greenville High School’s 140th commencement ceremony on Sunday, the event took place outside for the first time on Legacy Field. A total of 245 students graduated, including Amy Staten, who joined the ceremony via Skype from Germany where she is participating in an exchange program. The theme of Sunday’s graduation ceremony was the impact the class of 2013 can make.